Wireless communication devices (hereafter referred to as mobile devices) allow for different forms of communication. For example, a mobile device may generally send and receive voice and data communications. More specifically, with regards to data communications, a mobile device can send and receive electronic mail (“e-mail”), text (“SMS”) and personal identification number (“PIN”) messages. E-mail and PIN messages are similar since they can both include a combination of text and/or graphics and can be sent to one or more recipients. However, e-mail and PIN messages are different in terms of how recipients are indicated and how these messages are transmitted.
For instance, a recipient in an e-mail message is specified using an e-mail address that can include a portion of a recipient's name. A recipient in a PIN message is specified using a PIN address, which is generally a number such as an 8 digit hexadecimal number (i.e. “200212F5”), for example. Both of these addresses are associated with the recipient's mobile device so that messages can be properly sent to the correct mobile device.
When an e-mail message is sent, it is typically received by a mail server such as Microsoft Exchange™, for example. An associated message management server then acts as a conduit between the mail server and the mobile device. When an e-mail message is received at the mail server, the message management server will be notified that an e-mail message has arrived, will retrieve the e-mail message and then send it to the mobile device(s) that are associated with the recipient e-mail address(es).
PIN messages are generally not transmitted by the message management server, as is required for e-mail messages. Therefore, if one of the mail or mail management servers is not functioning, PIN messages still allow users of mobile devices to communicate with one another, which is important in emergency situations. However, PIN information is usually contained centrally at an enterprise or host system. Further, since PIN addresses are unique numbers that bear no relation to the user of a mobile device, unless there is an up-to-date PIN address for a recipient in the address book of the sender's mobile device, when one or more components of a corporate network are disabled in a conventional system, it is not possible to access PIN information and hence it will be difficult to send PIN messages.